Recent advances in the enzymatic production and applications of xylooligosaccharides

The majority of lignocellulosic biomass on the planet originates from plant cell walls, which are complex structures build up mainly by cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. The largest part of hemicellulose, xylan, is a polymer with a beta-(1 -> 4)-linked xylose residues backbone decorated with alpha-D-glucopyranosyl uronic acids and/or L-arabinofuranose residues. Xylan is the second most abundant biopolymer in nature, which can be sustainably and efficiently degraded into decorated and undecorated xylooligosaccharides (XOS) using combinations of thermochemical pretreatments and enzymatic hydrolyses, that have broad applications in the food, feed, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Endo-xylanases from different complex carbohydrate-active enzyme (CAZyme) families can be used to cleave the backbone of arabino(glucurono)xylans and xylooligosaccharides and degrade them into short XOS. It has been shown that XOS with a low degree of polymerization have enhanced prebiotic effects conferring health benefits to humans and animals. In this review we describe recent advances in the enzymatic production of XOS from lignocellulosic biomass arabino- and glucuronoxylans and their applications as food and feed additives and health-promoting ingredients. Comparative advantages of xylanases from different CAZy families in XOS production are discussed and potential health benefits of different XOS are presented.

Automated summary

The majority of lignocellulosic biomass originates from plant cell walls, which are complex structures built up mainly by cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Xylan, a major component of hemicellulose, can be efficiently degraded into XOS with various applications using enzymatic hydrolysis. Different xylanases from CAZy families can be used to cleave xylan and degrade it into short XOS with enhanced prebiotic effects for humans and animals. Recent advances in enzymatic production of XOS from lignocellulosic biomass and their potential health benefits are discussed in this review.